Managing consistency between product development and public standards evolution

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Publication

This paper examines the management by equipment suppliers of consistency between their product development efforts and the evolution of public standards. We specify structures which make explicit the role of a firm's standards management and provide a unified perspective of its interdependences with other groups, internal and external to the firm. Based on a sample of cases provided by nine standards managers in three firms we develop five standards management structures which are used to provide consistency between product development and public standards evolution. We also show how these structures can be changed systematically with changes in goals and how they are related to three basic building blocks which we refer to as Information Management, Commercial Exploitation and Standard Development. The paper makes two main contributions. First, it enables individuals involved in the design or implementation of a standards strategy to create a simple and realistic visual representation of the binding which channels their activities. Second, it provides a stable framework within which standards managers can work to analyze, design, implement, modify and evaluate standards programs.